We're becoming writers! Yippeee! Students drew pictures about a special family memory and worked hard to label their drawings with letters. Many students took a big leap in their writing skills this week, leaving their teacher feeling very proud :)  Some students are writing random letters, some are matching initial letter sounds with what they have drawn, some are beginning to listen for beginning and ending sounds, and a few brave little ones are starting to sound out entire sentences. At this point in the year, if students are experimenting with letters and are able to match some of the letters we have learned with some of the things they have drawn, they are doing GREAT! Each student learns at different times and in different ways and all are challenged to take the next step in their learning, however big or small that may be. 

 

 

To celebrate the letter M in style, students were introduced to one of my favourite artists, Piet Mondrian. Not only does his name fit perfectly with the letters we have learned so far, he also makes amazing art! We looked at a variety of his paintings and came up with criteria around what our pictures would need to include to ensure they look like a Mondrian. We used red, yellow, blue and white rectangles to make our own Mondrian-inspired art. 

 

We learned about sorting this week. Students practiced sorting a variety of classroom materials by size, shape and color. Try some sorting around the house! Laundry perhaps?? ;)

 

Classroom Reminders:

1. Students are asked not to wear their Halloween Costume to school on Tuesday. Hope to see you all at the Halloween Hey Day! Have a spooky, fun-filled weekend! 

Miss Roberts 

Developing self-confidence and learning to appreciate our similarities and differences is a big part of being in kindergarten. Throughout the year, we spend a lot of time talking about how each of us is unique while at the same time sharing a great deal in common with our friends. This week, students reflected on their talents. In their journals, students drew pictures of things they are really good at. We learned so many interesting things about each other from this activity. Our kiddos were so proud to share about their special skills. 

"I am really good at singing songs to my brother before he goes to sleep."

"I am talented at snuggling my mom."

"I am a very kind friend."

"I am an expert at scoring goals in hockey."

"I am talented at loving my family."

 

We continued to compare and contrast items in our classroom this week based on length and size. Though most of our little ones have now mastered this concept, we still have a few friends who are not able to do this independently. Have your child try this at home to see if they may need a little extra help :)

 

 

I believe that playing games and engaging in simple and fun activities involving letters and numbers is the best way to learn and develop these skills. Try adding some letters and numbers to activities that your child engages with at home. Adding a ruler to the building center at school and a notepad with some pens to our house center invites the use of letters and numbers in a playful way. Here are some of the literacy and numeracy centers students worked through this week:

 

 

 

Classroom Reminders:

1. Students loved getting their very first school photos taken! We did the very best we could to get some great smiles :) Retakes will be happening in early November for anyone who missed picture day or would like to have them taken again. Stay tuned for the exact date.

2. Halloween Hey Day is coming up next Friday, October 27. If you would like to purchase game coupons for this event, please return the green order form by Tuesday, October 24. 

We had such a wonderful week. Thank you for sharing your little ones with me. I treasure each and every one of them.

Miss Roberts :)

This was a short and sweet week in kindergarten filled with many hands-on explorations. H was our letter focus of the week. Students are becoming more comfortable sounding out words every single day. As their confidence and understanding of letter sounds develops, students progress from labelling pictures with beginning letter sounds to listening for beginning and ending sounds and then finally, beginning, middle and ending sounds. Take a look at how this is progressing in our work: 

We spent some time this week talking about different kinds of homes.

After brainstorming the most important things about what a house must have, students were challenged to create a home with walls, windows, a door, a roof and a second floor. They loved being builders for a day and were totally and completely engaged in their challenge. 

We used lego and paint to create some pretty neat homes at centre time too!

We continued our discussion around comparing lengths and searched for things around the classroom that we could put in order from shortest to longest. This was surprisingly tricky for some of our little ones. We'll keep practicing these skills next week.

Classroom Reminders:

1. Monday, October 16th is a system-wide Professional Development day for teachers. There will be no school for morning or afternoon students.

2. Picture Day is coming! On Tuesday, October 17th, students will be getting their individual photos taken. We will be getting our class photos done on a different day later in the year.

3. Just a friendly reminder that the morning class will be going to the library on Wednesdays and the afternoon class will be going to the library on Thursdays. Please ensure your child returns their library book on or before their library day.

4. As the cold weather is fast approaching, students are coming to school with hats, mitts, scarves, etc. There are items that get left behind almost every day that no one claims as their own. I would encourage you to put your child's name or initials on these items to ensure they make it back home :)

See you on Tuesday!

Miss Roberts :)

We had a fall-filled week in kindergarten. Students are having fun exploring the seasonal changes we are seeing outside. We sketched pumpkins and practiced our scissor skills by creating a fall tree in our classroom during centre time. 

Our amazing little artists practiced their observational drawing skills by looking closely at some beautiful fall leaves and painted them with magical watercolor pencil crayons. Ask your child to tell you how they work!

 

 

We read the story "Ten Hungry Caterpillars" by Bill Martin Jr. and were inspired to make some caterpillars of our own. As an introduction to comparison and measurement, students were challenged to create short, medium and long caterpillars. For an added challenge, students were encouraged to decorate their caterpillars with patterns. These were so much fun to make and a great activity to build our fine-motor skills! 

 

We learned about the letter F! With each new letter, we learn an action and a rhyme to help us remember the sound each letter makes. Ask your child what our actions and rhymes are for P and for F. We practiced printing Fs in our journals and drew pictures of things that begin with the /f/ sound.

We talked about Thanksgiving and had a meaningful discussion around the things we are thankful for. Students had SO much to share on this topic and expressed gratitude for many special things in their lives. Here are some of the special ideas they shared:

I am thankful for...

...being able to hold my mom's hand.

...my house and my comfortable bed.

...my body because it helps me move.

...my puppy because it helps to clean-up crumbs.

...snuggles with my cat.

...eating ice cream with my mom.

And my personal favourite:

"I am thankful for my mom. She makes me dinner every night because my dad doesn't know how."

 

We had another absolutely beautiful morning of abstract painting on our Early Dismissal Friday :)

Classroom Reminders:

The morning class went to the library for the first time this week! Afternoon students will begin going to the library next week.

Morning students will be going to the library for book-exchange every Wednesday. 

Afternoon students will be exchanging their books on Thursdays. 

Please ensure your child has returned their library book on or before their library day so that they may sign-out a new one each week. I would encourage you to put your child’s book in their folder (if it fits) to ensure that I see it. Otherwise they get left in backpacks for days on end because the students forget to take them out :) 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am feeling very thankful for the amazing group of little ones I get to spend time with every day. I love what I do :)

Miss Roberts